What Factors Affect Boat Insurance Premiums

What Factors Will Affect the Premiums for Boat Insurance?

Just as with homeowners insurance and automobile insurance, boat insurance premiums can go up or down, based on certain risk factors.

The level of experience the insured owner of the vessel has with captaining watercraft, can affect the price of the insurance premium. An inexperienced boatman may pay a higher premium than one who has owned and operated watercraft for a long period of time. It may also help to lower premiums if the owner has taken courses on operating a watercraft.

Safety equipment on board the vessel has a direct bearing on the premium rate. Fire extinguishers, emergency equipment and other special safety features installed on the boat will help lower the rate of the insurance premium.

The age and the value of the vessel being insured will also impact the price of the premium. Newer, more expensive models of watercraft are more expensive to insure, than older vessels, which may have depreciated in value.

Just as with automobile insurance, as the risk of possible liability on the part of the vessels owner increases, so does the cost of the insurance. Previous tickets or boating accidents will directly affect the rate you pay for your insurance. In cases where the owner of the boat was found to be at fault, especially due to the presence of alcohol or other substances, the premiums will be the greatest, because the liability risk is greater.

In order to obtain optimum insurance premiums the owner of a watercraft should install safety features, participate in boating safety courses, and of course obey the laws of boating, operating the craft in the safest possible manner.